Swollen Ouchy Boobs!!

[{sarah}]

My goodness IKWYM now about having an extra long sleep & what it does to your boobs now Liz! Madame decided to sleep last night from 10pm to 4.30am when I decided I just had to wake her up. My boobs were so har & had been leaking badly. She was totaly unimpressed with being woken & fed only off one side so I expressed 40ml off the other side to get a bit more comfortable.

Another question, I now have 60ml of EBM in the fridge. How much should I collect in the same bag together?

[MantaRay]

Sarah, when you mix batches of EBM, make sure they are the same temp - ie don't mix warm EBM with refridgerated EBM, cool the second batch in the fridge first.

Also, I tended to freeze EBM in 40 - 60 ml batches. It means you go through more bags, but otherwise if you have 100ml or more together and then defrost it, and warm it, then it doesn't all get drunk, you are throwing EBM down the sink which is heartbreaking. Smaller batches means less wastage, and it doesn't take long to warm a second batch if one isn't enough.

[{sarah}]

Oh yikes, I added the warm to the cold, is that really bad? I didn't even think about that when I mixed them this morning. And yeah good idea about smaller batches, I'll put the 60ml in the freezer if it's still ok.

[Spring Angel]

From what I understand (this is the info that came with my pump) you can keep EBM in the fridge and add fresh milk to it over a 24 hour period then it needs to be frozen or used. But from reading what MantaRay has said I'm not so sure now

I'm going to go and check out the ABA site, BBL

[Liz]

I'm pretty sure you need to cool it to the same temperature before combining it. It's especially important when adding to frozen EBM, it needs to be cold before adding it or it will partly defrost the already frozen EBM.

[mummy of many]

Hi Sarah, firstly congratulations on your beautiful new baby girl,and well done to you. I think we all have a little trouble knowing what to do with our sore boobs when our milk is coming in,not the most comfortable feeling,I roughly fed my little ones,15 to 20 minutes on each breast,but naturally it does depend on how long they want to feed,also nice warm face washers make the pain less un bearable,also i found the best place to express milk is under a warm shower,squeeze away until your hearts content !, it stimulates everything,but thats only if you don`t need to freeze your breast milk,and like another lady said use cabbages,this works well too,but a bit chilli at this time of year, lol . All the very best.

[Spring Angel]

I never add fresh to frozen but I have been adding fresh to refridgerated milk.

I can't find anything on the ABA site about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry so I'll be making sure they are both the same temp from now.

[Nadine]

Sarah, it sounds like you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work

I found this for those interested:

How to store expressed milk:
It is best to express directly into a sterilised container. The milk can be kept in the fridge for 48 hours at 4?C without losing much nutritional value or protective immunological effect. However, it is safe to keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Breast milk can be kept for 3 to 4 months in the freezer compartment of a fridge (that is, a freezer compartment with a separate door). If the freezer compartment is inside the fridge and does not have a separate door the milk may be stored for up to 2 weeks. Milk can be stored for 6 to 12 months in a deep freezer (-18?C).

Store the milk in small amounts. Glass or plastic containers can be used, including sealable plastic bags. Label each container with the date, month and year. Also write ‘expressed milk’ on the container in case someone mistakes it for something else. Do not add fresh, warm expressed milk to milk that is already frozen or cold.

And from another site:

Never add warm breast milk to cold milk. Always cool expressed milk separately before adding to previously collected, cooled milk.

HTH

[MantaRay]

The reason you can't add fresh milk to cold milk without pre-chilling, is that the warm milk "heats" the cold milk. It's like warming it for a feed. The chances are the EBM is still ok - I am sure that in my sleep-deprived haze I have accidently mixed warm EBM with cold before and all was well. But if you want to be really sure you would have to discard the milk.

[Spring Angel]

Thanks Sarah and Manta ray. I've only started expressing in the last few weeks that I've been back at work so thankfully I've only done this a few times which DS has already drunk without any problems.

It totally makes sense to cool it first and I don't know why I didn't think of this.

Thanks for the info.

Spring

[deancey]

Sarah
this is just what i was looking for. this morning my boobs were pamela anderson look a likes LOL
I massaged the lumps away in the shower and now feel better. Liam is feeding well and I am still getting milk all over myself as the supply is too much for him but I am sure it will settle.
Gotta love these early day changes.